1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of three dimensional printing, and more particularly, to analyzing preferred orientations for 3D printing models.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Three dimensional printing (3D Printing, or 3DP) denotes a broad range of technologies for creating three-dimensional objects by applying material one layer after the other, according to specification given as a digital model. The field is often called additive manufacturing (AM) since material is added to the growing object (as opposed to subtractive methods such as NC machining). There are a variety of technologies that fall under this category, but most of them share the characteristics that the desired object is produced layer by layer. Slicing tools comprise software that converts a model file into printing instructions for producing the actual objects, as surveyed e.g., in Bugdayci et al. 2014 (Analysis of Slicing-Tools for Fused Deposition Modeling 3D-Printers and comparison of different printers, University of Stuttgart, Faculty of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Information Technology, Student Report Software Engineering No. 191), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. WIPO Publication No. 2014/141273, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses methods for slicing a three-dimensional model for printing of a corresponding object by a 3D printer.